Change of Plans

 They say that necessity is the mother of invention. Seems to be especially true when you're on a tight budget and trying to make use of a small space. Welcome back my fellow cleaning adventurers to another chapter of my reorganization mayhem. So if you've been following along up to this point, I've gone over the various containers that I've been able to get for some of my smaller supplies and told tales of my struggle to find a place for my larger pieces of equipment. This time around I shall lead you on a path of frustration of odd shaped supplies.

Childcraft Construction Paper Holder

Road of Obstacles
Acknowledging the fact that I needed a central space where I can store my various size pads of Bristol and watercolor paper so I could stop loosing them among other things, I started looking into possibilities. This is when I discovered that prices and sizes that fit my needs and budget was going to be a battle. Let me walk you through this - The pads I have that I would need to store together range between 9x12in (22.9x30.5cm) to 12x18in (30.5x45.7cm) which means I need something that would fit the largest size without issue but have room to accommodate the various smaller pads. I also am budgeting myself about $60 with a buffer
just in case it would cost up to $10 more for shipping and taxes. While looking through my options, I found several possibilities which would fit my size requirements however the prices were more then I was willing to stomach. One such discovery was this children's construction paper holder that had 29 3/8 x 12 ¾ x 15 inches as it's dimensions but a price tag of $151.21. There were several storage possibilities that were within my budget but the size accommodations would not work for my needs. Discussing my frustrations of this with my father, we agreed that my best option would be for us to look at wood and he would make an organizer for me that would satisfy both my needs and stay within my budget. The added benefit of this would be any leftover wood would be saved to be put to future projects.

Sauder 6-Cube Storage Cubby

Now the next hazard along this path was where the hell was I going to put the organizer once we were able to build it. Underneath my desk is completely out of the question since I already have various storage containers under it to. I also have no space in my bookcases which could accommodate it. So my only other option is my closet. Of course that means that I need to do a deep clean of the closet and see how much room I can make in order to have enough room for the organizer. That is where I am at right now. On the plus side, this is something that I've been needing to do for some time but now there's more of an urgency to it. One of the things that I've found that has helped are these small cube storage options. I was able to find the 6 cube option through Big Lots for only $29.99. Since I'm not concerned with color since they're going into a closet, I grabbed what ever color I could. Of course if I wanted to have them a different color, there was always the option of just spray painting them at a later time. Still have quite a bit more work to do but the small bits of progress has been rather encouraging.


So wish me luck, fellow DIY folks. In the meantime, if you're wishing to catch up on my cleaning odyssey then here you go: 

Part 1 - New Year, New Journey
Part 2 - Where do I put this?
Part 3 - Prepare the Tools